Sanctuary Advisors LLC Acquires 2,370 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 113,658 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,370 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $3,804,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its stake in PPL by 195.5% during the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 780 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 516 shares in the last quarter. Kentucky Trust Co bought a new stake in PPL during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in PPL during the third quarter worth about $34,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its stake in PPL by 1,092.2% during the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 1,216 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in PPL by 139.2% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,512 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 880 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other PPL news, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 6,639 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.16, for a total transaction of $213,510.24. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $360,513.60. This represents a 37.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 981 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total transaction of $32,843.88. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 45,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,520,460.72. This represents a 2.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,633 shares of company stock valued at $346,657 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PPL has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of PPL in a research note on Friday, October 25th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of PPL in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of PPL from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PPL has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.00.

PPL Stock Up 1.7 %

PPL opened at $34.75 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $33.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.71. PPL Co. has a twelve month low of $25.87 and a twelve month high of $35.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.72, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.83.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.03). PPL had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 8.88%. The company had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.09 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.14%. This is a boost from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. PPL’s payout ratio is presently 90.08%.

About PPL

PPL Corporation, an energy company, focuses on providing electricity and natural gas to approximately 3.6 million customers in the United States. It operates through three segments: Kentucky Regulated, Pennsylvania Regulated, and Rhode Island Regulated. The company delivers electricity to customers in Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Virginia, and Rhode Island; delivers natural gas to customers in Kentucky and Rhode Island; and generates electricity from power plants in Kentucky.